Hopkins Begins Testing New Inline Baggage Screening Systems

THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER – Departing passengers will no longer have to carry their suitcases, after check-in, to a separate TSA baggage drop-off location, beginning Thursday, October 19, in the south end of CLE’s ticketing lobby. Instead, suitcases will be placed on a conveyor belt behind the ticket counter, and sent out of sight to a new screening area, part of a 2015 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) project.

Testing of the new inline baggage system will begin on the south end of the ticketing lobby for passengers flying United, JetBlue, Southwest and Air Canada. The new setup will be similar to the system previously used by United, before construction on the project started two years ago.

If all goes well, the free-standing bag screening machine on the south end of the ticketing concourse will be removed by Thanksgiving weekend, according to airport spokeswoman Michele Dynia.

Later this year or early in 2018, the inline baggage system will become operational on the north side of the ticketing level, affecting passengers flying Frontier, Spirit, Delta, American and Allegiant airlines.

The new system has been under construction since 2015 and costs $26.8 million, 90 percent of which is funded by the TSA.

The new baggage screening system also includes the installation of new explosive detection machines and Mobile Inspection Table technology, which uses robotic carts to process bags that require more detailed inspections. Cleveland Hopkins is the second U.S. airport to use the MIT technology, according to the airport.

Airport officials recommend that passengers remove old tags and loose straps on suitcases to prevent the bags from getting caught in the new equipment.

via – Cleveland Hopkins to test new baggage screening system starting Thursday